


'Mate' is a Four Letter Word

by karasunosuke



Category: InuYasha - A Feudal Fairy Tale
Genre: Fist Fights, M/M, Mild Blood, idiots to lovers, inu just needs 2 vent and kouga's a buddy abt giving him an outlet!!, they fight but they're not actually Fighting
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-07-22
Updated: 2019-07-22
Packaged: 2020-07-11 21:23:23
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 861
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19934713
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/karasunosuke/pseuds/karasunosuke
Summary: A collection of works for InuKog Week 2019! I love these boys sm and im glad somebody hosted a whole week for them ;v;Day 1 - Anger





	'Mate' is a Four Letter Word

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Inuyasha's not a great talker; Kouga understand that. They're both a volatile mix of emotions worn on sleeves and hearts buried deep beneath their pride, and it makes words difficult. Punches are easy, and it's something they both understand. Kouga understands when Inuyasha speaks that language.  
> Inuyasha comes to the den angry and upset, and Kouga knows he needs an outlet. he gives him one.

The tang of fresh blood still coated Kouga’s mouth, though it was mostly just the taste stained on his tongue now. He spat, and it was translucent. Hardly any red at all now.

He checked his fingers after touching his cheek and came to a similar finding, any injuries he might have sustained already clotted and dry.

“Feel better?”

“Feh.”

Inuyasha’s heavied breath was apparent even in the short remark, his chest heaving even with his best attempts to conceal it. Still, Kouga knew the fact that neither of the two of them were throwing punches anymore was a resounding confirmation.

“You should,” Kouga continued, “Nearly knocked a damn fang out.” The wolf gave a theatrical rub of his jaw, then opened it to stretch and flex it from side to side, culminating in an unhealthy sounding pop.

Inuyasha hadn’t gotten even close to doing so, and he knew that. Kouga knew as well, but the attempted ego stroking was a nice gesture. He’d needed the fight, and Kouga had seen it from a mile away. He wasn’t entirely sure what had set Inuyasha off in the first place, although he had just gotten back from a visit to some of his other friends. The smell of the monk, his wife, and their kids was on him, but there were others. Less potent smells, less stained into the fabric of his haori, but there nonetheless. Villages he had passed through. Bandits he had encountered, maybe- who knew? It didn't really matter.

There were certain lines that Inuyasha had, so Kouga knew whatever had happened couldn’t have been too serious, although it was apparently enough that Inuyasha hadn’t been able to vent all his feelings simply through pummeling the original subject of his irritation. If it had been too much for even a brawl with Kouga to fix, Inuyasha would have been silent and pouty. Kouga hated those moods, he knew less how to help. Moments like this, at least he could let Inuyasha get a few punches out to blow off steam.

So Kouga gave him that outlet. He’d forgotten what he’d even said to provoke the fight- it was an embarrassingly thinly veiled remark, he was sure, maybe it had been something about how long Inuyasha had been gone?

The wolf groaned audibly with the excuse of being able to pass it off as another ego stroke for the mutt. He sounded like a nagging spouse, saying something like that.

Inuyasha had almost called him on the poor excuse of a provocation, truth be told. Kouga wasn’t half as sly as he thought he was, Inuyasha had realized this quite immediately upon spending more time around the other demon. When that confidence that bordered on arrogance had turned from an annoyance to an annoying charm, Inuyasha could never identify exactly. 

He was musing on this when he realized that he was thinking straight again in the first place, his heart had calmed and his fist wasn’t clenched.

Release.

He sighed. Finally, he relaxed into the dirt next to where Kouga had ended up sprawled on his back. The other male had sat up already, Inuyasha noted, though neither had moved from where they’d flopped after their fistfight. His ribs hurt from a kick he'd taken, but he was fairly certain Kouga looked worse than he did. That was a win!

A win Kouga had let him have, but he’d done the same for Kouga when his wolf had needed an outlet too. They could both muster the shame of a false loss if it left the other feeling better, assuming they weren't being watched.

“If you let a couple punches like that take a tooth out, you deserve to lose it,” the half-demon said back. He sat himself up, then shoved at Kouga’s shoulder.

Kouga growled, but his neither his teeth bared nor did his tail bristle. It was just for show, so the mutt shoved again“Shut the hell up- you lost, you don’t get to growl,” Inuyasha snapped, then placed a hand on the ground to steady himself for an inevitable return push.

Kouga gave it not a moment later, rough as he ever was about it. Inuyasha jostled, but went still afterwards, taking the shove he knew he deserved in return.

“If you’re not so damn pissy anymore,” the wolf started, “You wanna tell me what happened?”

Inuyasha stood briskly. He leaned down, brushed the dust from his hakama, then went to work at picking the dirt out from beneath his claws.

“Nah,” Inuyasha replied, “I don’t.”

The blankness of Kouga’s face belied no surprise. Words weren’t his forte either, so skipping the talk wasn’t a problem with him. Hell, if either of them were good with words, Kouga probably wouldn’t have the taste of blood in his mouth at that moment in the first place.

“Whatever.” He shrugged, readjusted the furs at his shoulders, and then the fight was over. “Then let’s go get some damn food, if you’re done crying.”

Kouga’s arm was sore from the fight, and it throbbed as he settled it around Inuyasha’s shoulder. Having the other there was worth the sting.


End file.
